Sonnet: The Cities of Steam, Brass, and Aether

Chapter Ten

"Ziggy will guide you out of here, nobody will mess with you with him as your guide. So you will be perfectly safe leaving." Lance said to Blair and Grilimir.

"Guide." The little green goblin said in a strangely stoic manner, they obviously enjoyed receiving orders from Lance. Blair couldn't tell if it was supposed to be a male or female, but decided it didn't really matter anyways.

"Make sure we stay in touch." She said directly to Henry, "how well do these stones work? I mean how far away can we be before they no longer pick up a signal?" She asked, while thinking about the limited range of most radios.

"They should be usable anywhere in this country. I have just imbued them with some of my mana; which is the magical, replenishing essence that pools inside of your inner being. It is what allows us Faye to use our innate magical abilities." Lance began to explain to them, "nearly everything in the world has a source of mana inside of them, it's just a matter of tapping into it and learning how to use it; even the rocks, trees, rivers and streams are abundant sources of mana."

"So mana is used kind of like aether?" Henry asked Lance when he had finished his explanation.

How the hell does Henry know how Aether is used?!? That is supposed to be one of the closest guarded secrets of the nobility and the Visagalice church. Where could he have learned about something like that? I don't even know how to. Most people don't even really know what aether is, except for those who can wield it such as my father and uncle who are both capable aetherians.

My grandfather became the first aetherian, or aether wielder, when he was granted the title of Milzani; bringing the belief of the gods under a single, widespread religion practiced throughout Sonnet.

"I don't think I am familiar with the term, aether, you said?"

Maybe this was her chance to see how Henry knew what it was. At least she could let him answer Lance's question to see how much he knows about it. Hells, what does she even know about the damned stuff?

"Well I don't really know anything about it. I've heard of AV's before, and was even offered one of them once about a year ago. But big brother told me to stay away from those, claiming it to be a vile source that corrupts those it touches; giving them immense powerful magic for a short span, before warping them into a deformity unrecognizable from who they once were. I mean just look at all the AV users in Sylek, it wasn't hard to see what he meant by it. Not to mention we have things like the aether torch also, although I never really thought about why they are called that before now; alot of our more advanced tech has the word aether in it, now that I think about it."

Ok. So he doesn't really know anything about it then, except for the volatile stuff that even most experienced aetherians won't go near. 

"Well I wouldn't say mana would ever do anything like that to somebody who uses it. It is a part of you, not some external source that fuels you; it is like finding the little fire within that fuels your heart, and stoking the flames in the direction you wish to channel your energy into. That is what it feels like to use one's mana. Anyways, it really is time for the two of you to get going. I have really enjoyed your company but I don't like the idea of your father coming in here with troops, we will also need to be moving our location just in case they decide to start an investigation into so many deaths."

Damn. She wanted to know more about this mana stuff. She doesn't really know how aether works, but she didn't think it was used the way Lance just explained. So there was no way they could be the same thing, was this mana something she could learn as well?

Blair looked first at Henry then to Lavender, who had begun to cry once again; although they might actually be real tears this time.

"Well guys, I guess this is goodbye then. It was really good knowing you two, even if it was just for a short time." She started saying to them, stopping as she saw Henry break into a large smile; she gave him a quizzical stare for his reaction, was he happy they were leaving?